Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Printing Impositions


Recommended Posts

14 hours ago, Brian Halm said:

Need a function to produce opposing pages for printing purposes i.e. on a 12 page document left to right pages would have to be 12-1; 2 -11; 10-3; 4-9; 8-5; 6-7. (opposing folios always add up to one more than total pages i.e. for a 12 page document that number is 13).

With Acrobat you can use File>Print and choose booklet. 

Not the answer you were looking for - but a workaround. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Przemysław said:

As a printer, I prefer when customers don't impose documents. Just saying. 

Agreed, but if Brian is printing the job himself that doesn't apply. I would make a standard PDF and use imposition software. You can buy pretty cheap s/w for that I think.

Windows 10 Pro, I5 3.3G PC 16G RAM

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, BennyD said:

The Booklet Printing Feature in Indesign is Killer. We need something similar. But not just for printing also for creating pdfs. In InDesign I use this quite often writing a postscript file the old school way and then generating the pdf with Acrobat Distiller.

I'm not sure why you feel it's necessary you can print a booklet using Acrobat Reader https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/print-booklets-acrobat-reader.html

Acrobat Reader is free.

You create the PDF from the application - then use a 3rd party to impose - whether that's specialist imposing software - or Basic like Acrobat Reader then that's it. 

 

Quick note - creating a postscript file and generating a PDF in distiller is killing your file. You lose all sorts of great information. Make the PDF directly from InDesign - or in this case Affinity.

Distilling a PDF only uses a subset of the full PDF imaging model. You lose a lot of information, including and not exclusiveto, ICC colour management, any live transparency, layer information, and I'm probably missing about 10 other things I can't think of right now.

 

Impositions should really only be done at the printing stage - I don't think there's any point of Affinity adding an imposition level to the software. 

1) Most people don't know how to impose properly - and will make an arse of it - is it going to work/turn, work/tumble, perfect, sheet work... etc.

2) Probably every printers don't want you to impose the job - they have different machines, and they might put 16 pages on 1 machine and 4 pages on another, for example, so they want to setup for their machines the way they want to work the job.

3) You can use basic imposition in Acrobat to print your job on your own desktop printer.

4) Specialist imposition software is better at the job and developed already - why would Affnity spend time on this? 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No Eugene, NO! 

Think of students, who have to learn all the stuff and try out themselves. I did it myself.

I used that feature a thousand times for small, self-published editions. I used it to make imposed pdfs and print them on A3 digital printer or even better a RISO.

Giving me the option to make imposed pdfs and color separate them in one step makes the booklet print feature in InDesign a killer feature!

Don't always think of professionals but of people who want to become those professionals and need to understand how it's done by hand and in small scale.

 

B

 

 

___♥___
| | |    | | |

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, BennyD said:

No Eugene, NO! 

Think of students, who have to learn all the stuff and try out themselves. I did it myself.

I used that feature a thousand times for small, self-published editions. I used it to make imposed pdfs and print them on A3 digital printer or even better a RISO.

Giving me the option to make imposed pdfs and color separate them in one step makes the booklet print feature in InDesign a killer feature!

Don't always think of professionals but of people who want to become those professionals and need to understand how it's done by hand and in small scale.

 

B

 

 

You're certainly welcome to your opinion - but I disagree with you on this one. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, BennyD said:

Btw. The Booklet print feature in InDesign is capable of more than only brochure bindings. You can do 3-page or 4-page layers for stitch bindings and even more.

Yeh it's a feature that's mildly useful, after 15 years of using InDesign I have used it only a handful of times.

Printing to your own desktop printer is fine. Printing to a PDF or a PS to make a PDF is a bad workflow to begin with. You lose a lot of information, ICC profiles, Live Transparency, and a few other delicate bits of information required in a professional workflow. 

I operated a RISO myself and shot film to be imposed on plates too, and I used to do a bit of paste up with bromide. But times have moved on - printers like to receive single page PDFs and impose themselves. If you're self publishing there's a few free imposition software or some for a small fee. 

I'd be on the side of a well-formed PDF and then impose - rather than the other way around. 

If you want to impose you could make a sheet the size you're printing to and Place a PDF in the imposition. Probably a better way to learn how to impose - impose on paper first, replicate that on the screen.  I've imposed 1000's of books, some up to 3,200 pages, and I've designed and imposed books with fold out maps, crazy fold outs like 12 pages long in the middle of a section and all sorts. 

And not once did I start imposing a single file on the computer. I'd certainly create the imposition in specialist software, like PREPS.

Hence, why I would be hesitant to start adding imposition needs to the application. 

But hey - that's just my opinion. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Eugene Tyson said:

If you're self publishing there's a few free imposition software or some for a small fee. 

1

Maybe times have moved on but only a few years ago all those dedicated imposition software had been either crap or far too expensive. 
Which free or less expensive one would you recommend?

b

___♥___
| | |    | | |

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What’s your definition of ‘inexpensive’, Benny, and what capabilities are you looking for? Montax Imposer is available in a free version, but the maximum sheet size for that version is A4 and you can’t have more than four pages per sheet; other versions cost upwards of US$95, which is not what I would call inexpensive, but that obviously depends on your own use case and budget.

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, BennyD said:

Yes, those were the two I also found. Please be honest, but 400$ or 500$ is not what I find is really affordable, especially not for students.

So, we still need a solution. Maybe a imposition feature in Affinity Publisher, hu?

The one-person license for the one Eugene pointed to is $199.

If imposing is something you need to do regularly, it's a good investment. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, BennyD said:

Yes, those were the two I also found. Please be honest, but 400$ or 500$ is not what I find is really affordable, especially not for students.

So, we still need a solution. Maybe a imposition feature in Affinity Publisher, hu?

Not being bad though - you think that Affinity can build a better one into the software and keep it at the low price as per other apps they have? 

There's a bit of a price for them because they are worth it - it is specialist software - and why I keep coming back to the reason why it shouldn't be included as part of Publisher.

However, I hope Affinity opens up the apps to developers, so that they can install Plugins - that would be very welcome. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.